Tag: gluten-free

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Good Food Pie Contest

I have 2 words for you: Free Pie! That’s right, anyone who goes to the The Good Food Pie Contest gets to try samples of the competing pies.

Wait, I started at the end. Let me back up. The Good Food Pie Contest is an annual community event that brings together professional bakers, food bloggers, and home bakers to compete in five different categories; cream (chiffon or mousse), fruit, nut, savory, and new this year, the Time Burton inspired pie.

This year’s contest will be at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. Each pie will be cut and served for the panel of celebrity judges who include Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathon Gold, Food Network personality Aida Mollenkamp, and Chef Jet Lee.

Once they try the pies then it’s your turn. There are more than 200 pies competing this year and you can attempt to try them all.

Last year, I entered 2 pies that were both gluten-free. The first was a mixed berry and cherry pie on an almond crust, pictured on the right. The second was a tres leches pie with a flour-less cookie crust. Neither pie won a ribbon unfortunately (but a celebrity chef said she liked my cookie crust).

So this year, I decided to enter just one pie and it’s a combination of the best parts of both of last year’s pies. A tres leches pie on an almond crust with a layer of dulce de leche and a layer of vanilla cream filling. There will be some kind of whipped cream, but I haven’t figured that out yet.

Even if you aren’t entering a pie this year, it sounds like it will be a fun family event. At 12:30 p.m. families can do a pie-inspired art project as part of LACMA’s family Sundays. And follow that up by watching an apron fashion show from 2 to 2:30. At 2, the judges will start judging the pies for the public and at 3 p.m. the pies will be served.

The pie contest is free, but entry to LACMA’s galleries are not. But if you wear an apron you get free general admission (which doesn’t include the Time Burton exhibit).

If you don’t get enough pie at the contest, check out the Good Food Pie-a-Day blog.

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Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls on behalf of Dannon. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program but my opinions are my own.

For more information and recipe ideas, visit www.oikosyogurt.com or www.Facebook.com/oikos.  I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

One of my favorite things to make my kids is smoothies and here’s why; they drink them. It’s that simple. They don’t throw a fit because they actually like them. They don’t ask for something else. And they love to help me put the ingredients in the blender.

So when the Clever Girls Collective asked if anyone wanted to review Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt, I jumped on it. Plain yogurt is a main ingredient in our smoothies (and a minor ingredient in a few of the baked goods I make). And I’ve been buying greek yogurt lately to help cut back on sweets and desserts. I’ve been trying to bypass ice cream or cookies and have greek yogurt because I find it so filling, rich, and delicious.

But the real test comes from my kids (I eat everything!). I made a fresh fruit smoothie this morning that started with plain Oikos Greek Nonfat Yogurt.

Oikos yogurt in the blender

Then I added fresh cut peaches, frozen banana cubes (one of my favorite new finds from Whole Foods), frozen strawberries, and Whey Protein Powder. I put in the protein powder (also from Whole Foods) in case it’s a day that my kids decide they are boycotting protein.

They loved it. For smoothies, I usually use plain, lowfat yogurt, but the greek nonfat yogurt made it so much more like a forbidden treat. It might taste forbidden, but it’s still good for you. The yogurt has only 6 grams of sugar. After I made it I realized I probably didn’t need the protein powder. The 5.3 ounces of yogurt has 15 grams of protein.

We also tried the nonfat blueberry fruit-on-the-bottom, which we loved, and the nonfat yogurt with honey, which was a little too sweet for our taste. My favorite was the nonfat vanilla.

If you’d like to try Dannon Oikos Yogurt visit Facebook for a coupon. 

Here’s the Peach Smoothie recipe.
1 5.3 oz. container Oikos Greek Nonfat Yogurt, plain
2 peaches, cut up 
1 cup frozen strawberries
Handful of frozen banana chunks or 1 fresh banana
Splash of orange juice
1 scoop of whey protein powder

Add all ingredients to the blender except for the protein powder. Blend until smooth. Blend in protein powder. If it’s too thick add more orange juice. Enjoy!

I have partnered with Dannon to help promote the Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt Series.  I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, which includes writing about the promotion and product.  However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

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Peanut Butter Flan and a Pie for Mikey

There are so many things I take for granted. But the most obvious lately is my smart, kind, adorable husband. Even though he’s pissing me off right now, I know that he loves me and our kids more than anything. I know that he means everything to me and I want him to know it, too.

I want him to know that I really do appreciate everything he does for us. That I miss him when we’re not together and that when we are, I love his company. I want him to know that I love him more every day.

The reason I’m focusing about how much I love him and not how much he’s pissing me off (which is my usual MO), is because of a horrible thing that happened last weekend.

The blogger, Jennifer Perillo, whom I met only once and whose blog I follow, became a widow. Her husband of 18-years passed away suddenly of a heart attack. I can’t imagine how much her heart is breaking. Or the sorrow she must feel for her two daughters.

So today, I joined many people across the country to make a Peanut Buttery Pie for Mikey, his favorite dessert.

It’s not really a pie, it’s a flan, because I didn’t have the ingredients to make a gluten-free pie crust. Hopefully my dear and wonderful husband will know that I made it just for him and I made it with love.

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LA Food Blogger Bake Sale

If you love fabulous and interesting baked goods, you must try to catch one of the Food Blogger Bake Sales going on around town this weekend. Proceeds will benefit Share our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger.

Gaby, from What’s Gaby Cooking is hosting an LA bake sale this Saturday, May 14 from 11:30 am to 2 pm at BLD Restaurant. It will feature baked goods from an amazing collection of food bloggers including one of MomsLA’s own, Daydreamer Desserts. I had the pleasure of tasting some of her gourmet macaroons and if she makes them this weekend I may have to buy them all.

I’ll be donating gluten-free cookies, brownies, and vegan mocha cupcakes and, I must admit, I’m a little intimidated. I sometimes write about food, but these people are some of the best food bloggers in town.

If the West Side isn’t convenient for you, check out the bake sale Veronica, of Muy Bueno Cookbook, is hosting in Valencia. Her sale runs from 3 pm to 7 pm on Saturday, May 14 at Westfield Valencia Town Shopping Center (Sisely’s and TGIF entrance).

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Gluten-Free Lemon Pound Cake

Last week after marathon training, someone was giving away lemons from their tree. I was eating a banana and drinking Gatorade so lemons seemed kind of disgusting after a 16 mile run. I took a few anyway and I’m so glad I did.

Later, I kept going over what I could make with them; lemon curd, lemon muffins, lemon cake. I’ve been making a cake a week to try to go through my gluten-free flour left over from my baking business. I found a recipe on the Food Network from the Barefoot Contessa for Lemon Yogurt Cake.

My gluten-free version was more like pound cake, but it was still really good. One of my pet peeves with lemon flavored baked goods is that I always want them to be more lemony. Not so with this recipe. There is lemon in the cake. There’s lemon in the sauce that goes over the cake. And there’s lemon in the glaze that goes over that. There was plenty of lemon flavor and the fresh lemons made it even better.

I didn’t change much for this recipe, just the flours and I added a little more vanilla, and, or course, xantham gum. Oh, and I used lowfat yogurt because I couldn’t find any whole milk yogurt at Trader Joe’s.

Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Lemon Pound Cakelemon zesting

Cake:
1 cup gluten-free flour mix (King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose flour or see below*)
½ cup brown rice flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xantham gum
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup canola oil

Lemon sauce:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Lemon glaze:lemon pound cake gluten free
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray an 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½ inch loaf pan with canola oil spray.
Sift the flours, baking powder, xantham gum, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix in the flour alternating with the oil. Mix until combined.

Pour into baking pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until a knife placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the lemon sauce. Heat the sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan until the sugar melts and the sauce is clear. Don’t overcook. Set aside.

>When the cake is done, let it cool for about 10 minutes. Take it out of the pan and place on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet or plate underneath (I used parchment to hold the cake in my hand as I turned it over and then flipped it onto the cooling rack.) Pour the lemon sauce over the warm cake.

Let the cake cool. Mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar until there are no lumps. Once the cake is cooled, pour the glaze over the cake.

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy
6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour

Store leftover flour in an airtight container

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Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cake

Friday, a friend who has quite a few dietary restrictions came over to our house. No gluten, no dairy, no meat, no eggs. Well, she came to the right place. My husband has Celiac Disease, which means he can’t have gluten and I love to experiment.

My favorite cake recipe is a Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake that I adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, “Quick Vegetarian Pleasures.” You only use one bowl and no mixer so it’s quick and easy to make.

The cake is popular around here because it can pass for a cake made with wheat flour. It’s rich, chocolately, and  moist. I made it for my brother on his birthday a couple of years ago and he liked it. A high complement coming from a guy who eats like a 5-year-old; no vegetables, no fish, no nuts and the only thing he consumes that’s vegan is beer.

I almost always make this cake with chocolate frosting, but I wanted to do something different so I went with vanilla and coconut milk frosting. It was wonderful with the chocolate cake, sweet and silky. Glad my friend didn’t stop eating sugar, too!

Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake
1 ¾ cup gf flour mix
(King Arthur Gluten-Free Multipurpose flour or see below*)
½ cup garbanzo bean flour
1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons xantham gum
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup warm water
½ cup canola oil
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ teaspoons white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350

Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, cocoa, xantham gum, baking soda, and salt until the flour is smooth (the garbanzo flour can clump together). Add water, canola oil, vanilla, and white vinegar. Mix well.

Pour evenly into cake pans. Cook for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and transfer to a wire rack. The cake may be a little sticky on top, but it’s still good.

Vanilla and Coconut Milk Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup coconut milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup Earth Balance Vegan Butter Sticks

chocolate cake gluten free

Beat vegan butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly alternate powdered sugar and coconut milk until combined. Add vanilla and salt and beat for 1 minute. If it’s too thick add more coconut milk. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. Leftover frosting is great on sugar cookies, or coffee cake.

chocolate cake gluten free iced

*Basic Gluten-Free Flour Mix from the Gluten-Free Gourmet Cooks Fast and Healthy
6 cups white rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca flour
Store leftover flour in an airtight container

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No Gluten, Please

Dear Los Angeles Restaurants,

Celiac Disease is real. It’s not a fad or a preference. It’s an auto-immune disorder where the immune system attacks gluten, and in doing so, damages the small intestines. If the sufferer ingests gluten it could lead to stomach pain and inability to absorb nutrients.

In my husband’s case it could lead to much more. He’s also a Type 1 Diabetic. If he doesn’t absorb nutrients his ability to control his blood sugars is compromised.

Now I don’t expect every restaurant to be an authority on all of the food allergies, but if a customer says they can’t have gluten, which is wheat, barley or rye, please don’t give us gluten.

I bring this up because my husband and I had such a bad experience at a restaurant recently. We went to highly recommended spot for a rare night out without our kids.

I told the waiter that my husband couldn’t have any gluten and asked if the dish he ordered was okay. The waiter said it was. After my husband took a few bites of the dish he realized that the stuff sprinkled on top wasn’t nuts or cornmeal, it was barley.

When the waiter came back, he said, oh, it’s roasted barley and took the plate. I asked him for a new plate and to please not just take the old meal and scrape off the barley and give it back to us. I’ve heard of some Celiac’s refusing to give up their plate until a new meal comes, but I didn’t think it was necessary.

I was a server in a restaurant for many years and I know people make mistakes. I thought he either didn’t know what gluten was or didn’t tell the kitchen to make it without gluten. I get that, but what happened next was inexcusable.

After my husband finished the meal we looked at the plate and noticed that there was still barley on it. And underneath a piece of chard was the half eaten piece of meat that my husband had eaten before.

When I pointed it out to the waiter he said it was impossible because he gave our plate to another customer and he pointed to the guy sitting in the table next to us. So he either gave our plate to someone else after we’d eaten food off of it or he had the kitchen scrape off the barley. Either scenario is bad.

Needless to say, we’ll never go back there. But there are restaurants that care that their diners have a good experience.

After an awful first half of the evening, we tried to salvage the rest of it and went for dessert at Bouchon in Beverly Hills. We talked to the bartender about what happened and he pulled the chef over to tell us about the desserts. The chef knew exactly what gluten was and told us what we could and couldn’t have.

Again, I don’t expect restaurants to know about every allergy, just listen when we tell you we have one.

Note: When I tell servers that my husband can’t have gluten, I say “no gluten, which is wheat, barley, or rye.” At dinner that night, the waiter stopped me after I said “no gluten” and said that he understood because his mother is gluten intolerant. I mention it because a few people have asked.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

Many months ago I started talking about making my Yvonne’s Gluten-Free Goodies website a blog. Last night, I finally did. I posted a recipe for gluten-free pumpkin bread that I made from sugar pie pumpkins.

The pumpkins were left over after I made the Food Network Magazine’s Butternut Squash Soup in a Pumpkin Bowl. I tried making soup in a pumpkin bowl last Halloween, but the pumpkin concoction I came up with wasn’t really soup, it was more like pumpkin cream. This time I followed a real recipe from Food Network Magazine. Much better, fabulous in fact. I used the leftover pumpkin to make the bread.

Ingredients
1 cup gluten-free flour mix (TJ’s Gluten Free All Purpose Mix or King Arthur GF Blend)
½ cup brown rice
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tsp guar gum
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup canola oil
2 beaten eggs
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray with canola oil spray a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, sift the flours, sugar, salt, guar gum, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice in large bowl. In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs. Mix in the pumpkin, oil, water, and vanilla with the egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Pour into loaf pan. Bake for an 50 minutes to an hour or until a knife through the center of the loaf comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack.

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Homemade Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets

I’m constantly trying to get my kids to eat what I cook for them and not dine on store bought chicken nuggets that I heated up in the oven. So last night I made homemade nuggets with organic chicken and gluten-free bread crumbs.

It was a hit, sort of. My 6-year-old complained that they weren’t the right shape (uniform and made my a machine), but both kids ended up loving it. When I make it again I’ll cut the chicken in smaller pieces. I used the leftover batter to make breaded wild salmon for the husband and I, by simply adding a little chili powder to the bread crumb mixture to give it more flavor. The greens seen here are with garlic, onion, roasted tomatoes and green chilis. 

For chicken nuggets:
Whisk 1/3 cup buttermilk and one egg in a bowl and let chicken tenders (or nuggets) soak for a few minutes. 
In another bowl, combine 1 cup Southern Homestyle Corn Flake Crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder and salt and pepper. 
Dip the chicken in one piece at a time, coating it completely. Cook in Canola or Corn oil over medium heat until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Cool them on a rack or on a plate with paper towel. 

Enjoy!!

I don’t use buttermilk very much, but I sometimes run across a recipe that calls for it. Bob’s Redmill carries buttermilk powder and it’s so handy. You just add water and make as much as you need. It worked well with this recipe.

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Camping at El Capitan State Beach

The kids, husband and I had an amazing weekend camping in Santa Barbara. We were lucky enough to get a group site at El Capitan State Beach, which had a view of the ocean and enough room for 7 families.

It wasn’t easy to arrange. The friend who organized it made the reservation 6 months ago to the day and the trip was almost canceled because of rain. But there was no rain and the weather couldn’t have been better.

El Capitan is 17 miles west of Santa Barbara in a beautiful location. It’s a short walk to the beach and it’s surrounded by hiking and bike trails. We had enough room so the tents were close, but not too close to each other. Near the picnic tables was the perfect tree for the kids in our group, not too dangerous, but they could still fall and injure themselves. They are 2 to 6 years old and spent most of their time in the tree.

It was too cold to swim in the water, but the rocky beach was fun for climbing and collecting shells and rocks.

The beach, the walks and campfire were really fun, but the food was fantastic. The first night one family made fajitas marinated in gluten-free beer and bbq sauce. The second night we had lamb kabobs that had been marinated for 3 days in a sweet mint sauce. We had salad with fresh avocado and tomato, cheese and crackers with quince and carmelized nuts. Several types of interesting wine. Amazing.

The nights were a little cold, but the campfire and smores warmed everyone up. The nice people at Backyard Safari gave me a lantern at the LA Blogger’s Brunch last week and it was the perfect nightlight in the tent for my boys.

On Saturday, the weather was clear and warm. We took the kids to the beach, had a fabulous lunch and then went on a long walk. After a lot of resting/snacking, two of us decided to fight our instincts to drink beer and eat more cheese and we went on a run. Actually, it was more like a shuffle. (Just FYI: Don’t go running after you’ve had a beer and cheese and crackers. Uggh). We went jogging across the road to see what life was like at the private campground, El Capitan Canyon.

The family and I had been there before, on our first camping trip with kids. It was really “Glamping” (glamour camping) because there’s no camping involved. We stayed in a cabin with a bed, refrigerator, and a spa tub. You could cook outside and sit by the campfire as if you were camping and then go inside and crawl into a warm bed. The grounds have a pool, a store with chocolate and wine, restaurant, and lots of activities for the family. It was quite nice.

I was definitely thinking about that spa tub that afternoon when I was showering in the campground’s showers (which were nice for camping, but no hot jets). But I’d pick our tent camping any day. Good friends, good food, (no computer!) and kids having a blast. It was a great time.

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Running Is Making Me Hungry

I started running again, which means my metabolism is going crazy. I’m sore, sleepy, and starving. I ran 4 miles on Friday, 3 on Saturday, 5 on Sunday, and 4 on Tuesday. That was a lot of running for me and I ate everything in sight. (See this LA Times article about my condition, which is called “Compensator.”)

When I run, I feel justified in eating what I want. On Saturday, I had been good in the morning, but friends and I went on a last minute “moms’ night on the town” that started at Melrose Bar and Grill in West Hollywood. It was my second time there and the first time the server was so rude I thought I would never going back. However, on Saturday I did go back and we got the same server, but she was working the bar. She was actually very pleasant this time and even chatted us up. The appetizers were good and I thought about the turkey burger I had the last time around (fabulous, melt in your mouth burger), but we decided to go somewhere else for dinner.

Google Maps was no help in finding the restaurant we were trying to get to, so we ended up stopping at Jones Hollywood. There was an hour wait for a table so we sat at the bar where the crowd was young and hip. My friend used to hang out at Jones back in the day and so she was happy. We got a couple of side dishes and some wine and took in the scene; which was a lot of Hollywood types looking to hook up. It was fun, and I loved the red couches and dark colors. I also loved the wasabi mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach, which was a little sweet and cooked perfectly. I really wished I’d ordered a full meal because everything we saw looked so good.

On Monday, I had a fabulous day that I will write about at length tomorrow. One of the highlights was stopping by Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills and trying their new gluten-free red velvet cupcake. I’ve had cupcakes there before (I can have gluten, but my husband has celiac so I cook and bake gluten-free) but now their very best cupcake is the gluten-free red velvet. It was fabulous. My husband thought it was really good (but claimed that my gluten-free cupcakes are better).

That night the husband picked up Zankou Chicken, one of our favorites. We always get the rotisserie chicken roasted in a garlic sauce because it’s the best chicken I’ve ever had. Garlic paste comes on the side and it’s incredible. It’s a secret recipe, but I think it’s mayonnaise, butter and garlic. Some people think it’s lard, garlic and lemon. Whatever it is it’s fabulous. The hummus is creamy, and delicious and my favorite in any restaurant. Even the white rice is good. What I appreciate the most is that my kids like it and there’s no crying at the table because they’re too busy eating. And everything is gluten-free except for the pita bread, of course, and the tabouleh.

No amount of exercise was going to burn off Sprinkles and Zankou, but I tried anyway on Tuesday. Unfortunately, circumstance led us to another meal-not-made-by-mom on Tuesday.

I had to get new tires (Damn you Toyota and your faulty, shredding tires. Like you don’t have enough problems!) so we stopped for dinner at Natalee Thai Restaurant. I thought it was great, but it’s only earned 3 stars on Yelp. My kids had glass noodles and chicken and were so happy. I had vegetables in red curry (pictured top right) and asked for it really spicy and by God, it was really spicy. So good. We also had the Spicy Beef pictured here. Everything was good and the server was great. She brought the boys extra lemons and cherries and got our crazy kid order exactly right.

Well, I’m off to exercise once again. Hopefully I won’t chase that with any more cupcakes. But you never know.